Happy Goody
by Kaeru no Koe
Summary: They'd be the Golden Pair forever, right? No matter where Oishi went...three years of no contact later, and Kikumaru Eiji is just getting on with his comfortable if slightly boring life, when an old friend suddenly returns. FutureFic, Multiple pairings.
1. Three Uneventful Years

"When's your next break from University, nya? It feels like I haven't seen you in forever!"  
"It's only October, Eiji!" The red head smiled at the grinning boy on his computer screen, who was idly tending to a cactus as he spoke. "And Kunimitsu prefers us to stay in Germany over Christmas. I probably won't be over until Spring."  
"Laaaaame..." Eiji pouted. "Christmas is gonna be so boring. None of my siblings can come over this year and I don't even have work. And Kaidoh-kun's already booked a trip to Cuba around then. Cuba!"  
"We can have a big party next summer, okay? Once Tezuka and I graduate."  
Almost a whole year until then...Eiji sighed and twirled a lock of hair in irritation. Sure, he was twenty-one years old, but he still needed to be amused. Sadly, nobody was around to amuse him anymore. He'd moved out of his parents' home a few years ago now, after his siblings all left for foreign locales. he couldn't bother Echizen anymore because he was too busy globe-trotting and being the biggest thing in tennis since...anything. Fuji and Tezuka were at University in Germany, Inui had travelled even further to study in Cambridge, England, Momoshiro's family had uprooted to Spain, and Taka was already married with children so didn't have time to hang out anymore.

He had Kaidoh, sometimes, when the younger boy wasn't off somewhere exotic. Having been in his late great-uncle's favour, he had recieved a nice inheritance that he chose to spend travelling the world while he was young and still could, until he decided what to do with his life. This left Eiji stuck in Japan with his thoughts and a house full of other people's cats.

"Eiji...Eiji, there's a cat pawing your webcam, you might want to stop it." Fuji chuckled, bringing Eiji back into reality as he realised yes, Kaidoh's white kitten was pawing the webcam curiously, wondering if it was something she could eat, no doubt.

"Ah, Maisie, no. Go eat a sock, nya!"

"You should give the cats more discipline, Kikumaru"  
"Hello Tezu-nyaaa, I said eat a sock, not my wallet!"

The pair on Eiji's computer screen chuckled - well, Tezuka did his best to hide it - as he retrieved his wallet from the kitten.

"Oh, Eiji, I was meaning to ask you. That picture of you I took over summer...the professors want to put it in the Winter exhibition, is that okay?"

"Sure! You always take such awesome pictures...you're gonna graduate with an amazing grade." He sighed. "I kinda regret not going to college, nya."

Fuji's smile softened into a comforting one, like the long-distance pat on the shoulder the redhead really needed at that moment. "You've got a nice job and a place to live, and everyone where you live likes you and trusts you. You didn't even need four years of debt to get you there. And you have your catsitting, you make a fortune off that. How many cats in the house right now?"  
"Eighteen..."  
"Fifteen are that family down the street from you, two are Kaidoh-kun's...and another cat. Anyway, think of your per-cat per-night rate and times that by eighteen. You're fine. Kaidoh-kun isn't in college, Echizen isn't, Taka isn't, Oishi..."  
Eiji just sighed again.

* * *

As much as Eiji enjoyed his before-work chats with Fuji, he needed to go get ready, and Fuji had to go to bed. Throwing on a pair of jeans and a colourful shirt, a green band-aid on his cheek, he set about his morning. Cereal with marshmallows from the box and a carton of banana milk was a perfectly good breakfast in his opinion, provided he brushed his teeth three or four times afterwards.

Today he went with five times, just to be sure.

The elementary school was only a few minutes from Eiji's home, so he had time to think carefully about what to take. He didn't need much - classroom assistants didn't - but he liked to take in interesting bits and bobs from home sometimes. Notebooks, pens, his important things, lunch...maybe a paper to read over lunch. Eiji was never a newspaper person, but he liked to read the comics. He flipped through that morning's paper idly, armed with a pen to put a star next to whatever he felt like reading later, when something caught his eye.

**Pop Sensation Goody Returns to Tokyo to Promote Latest Single**

"...so you're coming back to town again, nya..." a little red star was scribbled beside the headline.

Eiji wasn't sure what he thought of Oishi - no, _Goody_ - now. He wasn't mad at him, not at all, he was just a guy following his dream, and sometimes on the way to that dream, certain things have to be left on the side of the road. He just didn't like being one of those things. He wasn't angry, he wasn't sad, he couldn't be disappointed, hell, Oishi was a global sensation now. No good friend could be anything but overjoyed.

But sometimes, Eiji didn't know if he was a good friend. He was happy _for_ Oishi, but wished he could be happy _with_ him instead. He bit his lip as his eyes rested on the photo next to the headline. Still the same as ever, just as handsome in that non-threatening way all the teenage girls and their mothers alike loved, sparkly green eyes, shy smile. The exact same smile Oishi had given him when he announced he'd been approached by an agent shortly after they graduated their high schools - bubbling with excitement, but too calm and collected and _Oishi_ to run and jump and let it out properly. Eiji had done that for him.

And they had promised no matter where Oishi went, no matter how big he became, they would always be the Golden Pair. Best friends forever.

What happened to that? It only took about three or four weeks before suddenly Oishi stopped contacting Eiji entirely.

Wiping away a tear he hadn't even realised was there, Eiji looked up at the clock and realised he needed to hurry up or risk being late.

* * *

Eiji was glad of the class field trip to the park. It meant he could get some air and think about things, like the stage being set up over there. He wondered for a moment who was going to be performing on it, then shook his head. _It couldn't be him, could it? Not on a little stage in a tiny park like this. He does arenas and stuff. _He sighed and glanced around to make sure all the kids were where they should be, doing what the teacher had told them.

Little children, like cats, have a bad habit of getting themselves into sticky situations. With children, you can warn them against it, but Eiji found this made them even _more_ likely to do it anyway.

So when a small group of six year olds ran over and tugged at the leg of his jeans, shrieking something about Arimi-chan running off and ending up in the middle of the pond, he wasn't surprised.

"She wanted some frogspawn, Kikumaru-sensei! We told her not to go in and she didn't listen!"  
"Calm down, calm down, nya, I'll get her out. Which pond?"  
They all pointed in different directions.

"...okay, okay, let's try again. Which pond."  
"The one with the frogspawn in, Kikumaru-sensei!"  
"No stupid, they all have frogspawn in, it was the one over there"  
"No, it was that one!"  
"Everyone go to a pond and tell me which one it is, nya!"

The children didn't end up having to do that, as a little girl, soaked through and covered in pond weed, scurried over to them.  
"I'm so sorry Kikumaru-sensei, I'm so sorry! I just wanted to see the frogspawn and then I fell in the pond and it was all cold and slimy and a frog jumped on me and I think there were fish and tin cans and stuff and it was so scary and I thought I was going to die and then a nice man got me out of the pond and I'm okay now but the man got his nice clothes all covered in water and frogspawn and icky and it was so scary I'm so so so so sorry!"

Eiji crouched down to hug the child and pat her back comfortingly, pulling pieces of pond weed from her hair. "it's okay, Arimi-chan, you're safe. Now no more jumping in ponds, nya. Now, where did this nice man go, so we can say thank you?"  
"I said thank you, Kikumaru-sensei, just like you told us to!"  
He smiled softly. "I'd like to say thanks too, nya. Now what did he look..."  
"There he is!" Eiji glanced up, wincing when he saw a hooded figure wearing very large sunglasses. He didn't like that one little bit, and decided to get the kids away. Nice man or not, Eiji didn't trust people who went around hiding themselves. "Kikumaru-sensei says thank you very very much!"

"Kikumaru..." The figure muttered.

"Yeah..." Eiji laughed nervously. "Thanks for helping my student, nya, but have to go rejoin the group now. Come on kids..."

"Wait."

Something about the urgency in the other man's voice made Eiji do as he was told. It wasn't quite a command, but a little more than just a request. The children hurried on ahead to find their classmates, leaving Eiji alone with the person stood behind him. The person who's voice struck a nerve, hit something in his chest. When he turned around to face him again, the hood was gone, the sunglasses removed, and Eiji found himself staring into the emerald green eyes of the man he hadn't seen for three long years.

"O...Oishi..."


	2. So Sugoi

What could he do?

Really, what _could_ he do?

Eiji felt...everything. Everything and nothing and something and this and that and he just had no idea. Oishi was _right in front of him_, flashing him that earnest smile like it hadn't been three years, like nothing had changed. Like they were still in high school and were meeting up to play tennis in the park after school, just like always. There was something in Oishi's face that made Eiji want to believe that, just for a moment.

He touched his own cheek in thought, and sighed as his fingers met the small green band-aid he had stuck on that morning. Just as the band-aid changed daily, everything else changed, too. It _wasn't_ the same as in high school, for all Eiji knew it could never be again. He had thought often of what he would say when this day came, when he finally saw Oishi again.  
But he couldn't think of anything.

The wind blew, a dog barked from somewhere across the park, Eiji could hear his heart beating and his watch ticking. It was _awkward_.

"I...I'm sorry, I have to work." Eiji mentally cheered and slapped himself at the same time. _Yes, you're out of an awkward situation_ and _Kikumaru Eiji you complete idiot you haven't seen him for three years and what do you do?_

"Oh..." came a dejected sigh from behind him. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't disturb you while you're working, but it's been such a long time and I just thought-"  
Oishi was silenced by Eiji's personal card being placed in his hand, before the redhead vanished to rejoin the group of children and the teacher.

* * *

_**Kikumaru Eiji**_

_**If you're going away and your cat needs a place to stay, leave them with me, they'll be in good company!  
Three years experience caring for cats and still sane, nya!**_

He couldn't help but feel a little stupid as he looked at the little piece of paper stuck to the fridge. Maybe it was about time he updated his card. Still, his home address, email and phone numbers were on it, so if Oishi really intended to contact him, he could. And Eiji was not the type to just sit and wait by the phone like a desperate teenager.  
He had just felt like being in the kitchen for the past two and a half hours amusing himself in various manners, it was nothing to do with the phone.

_At least this time he hasn't promised to call me. He promised to call me before and I've been waiting three years._

There was a knock at the door, but Eiji already knew who it was. It couldn't be anybody else, what with how the one knock turned into about twenty. "Eiji! Yoohooooo! Eiiiiiijiiiiii! Are you back from work yet? I'm bored!"  
"It's unlocked!" as soon as the words left his lips, Eiji was knocked out of his chair and onto the floor by a blur of blonde, leaping at him and trapping him in an enthusiastic hug.

"Eijiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! Keigo's still at work and he's being so boring today and he's in a meeting. Aren't I more important than a meeting, Eiji? He says he'll spend time with me after his meeting, but I'm bored _nooooooooow_!" the blur, who turned out to be Akutagawa Jiroh, whined and squeezed Eiji tightly as though he would never let go. "You'll hang out with me, right? Keigo won't be done for hours and hours and hours and hours and _hours_ and _**hours**_ and-"  
"I'll hang out with you, just please let me breathe, nya."  
"Ah, sorry! Here, I'll let you breathe, and I'll get us some drinks!"

And with that, Jiroh began rummaging around the kitchen, as if it were his own home. Eiji picked himself up off the floor and watched him in amusement - he _did_ like Jiroh, they had a lot in common, and had started hanging out together a lot when they were in high school. In fact, since Taka was always busy at the shop, Inui had gone to a different high school, and Fuji and Tezuka had run off to _Germany_ of all places, Eiji had started seeking friends from different schools and Hyoutei's high school division turned out to be a surprisingly unobnoxious place to start.

Jiroh came over a lot since Eiji had started catsitting, since he was deperate for his own cats but he hadn't quite convinced Atobe to get them yet. Why he was totally okay with Jiroh's pet sheep and not a cat or two was strange to Eiji, but the sheep did live outside where it couldn't destroy the furniture, and Eiji's sofa was in a pretty sorry state from having eighteen cats around. He hadn't ever intended on being a catsitter, but his neighbours had fifteen of the little darlings and went travelling an awful lot.

_It's like he lives here. _Eiji mused, eyes following Jiroh as he took two glasses from the top shelf, poured in chocolate milk, and started adding whipped cream and sprinkles and chocolate chips and God only knows what other glorious cavity-inducing things. _He knows where everything is in the kitchen, how everything works, he even sends me messeges reminding me to pick up groceries I didn't know I was running low on. Oishi and I were like that once._

No, bad Eiji, no thinking about Oishi until he calls you.

"I saw _him_ on the newspaper this morning," Jiroh sat back down, passing Eiji a glass of dental problems and sipping his own, "are you thinking about him?" Eiji was surprised, and was about to comment on how Jiroh was never normally so perceptive of things like that, when he kept talking, "I know I am! He's so sugoi! Do you think he'll have a show near us? We should go!"  
Ah yes, Eiji should have remembered Jiroh hadn't aged a day since the ninth grade. Sensitivity wasn't his strongest point. He'd had it easy with Atobe, Atobe had always stuck around, the concept of being left behind by your best friend wasn't one Jiroh knew well.

"Maybe, nya. I dunno if I'd want to go, though. I have work."  
"You guys and your work, seriously. Keigo is always work work work, and now you're work work work. Know what I do? Babysit for a couple of hours on Fridays when Keigo has his big weekly I-Can't-Miss-This meeting. I'm fine!" the blonde took a dramatic swig of his chocolate concoction. "You know, if you ever felt like taking some time out, you wouldn't need to worry about pay, I could help you out."  
"Nyaaaa! I'd never let you!"  
"I'd make you let me. And if that didn't work, Keigo would make you let me." he downed the rest of his glass with a giggle. "So, if Goody had a show near us, would you go? We could invite Choutarou-kun too, and Taki!"  
"Maybe..." Eiji glanced to the phone, willing it to do something, anything. Ring, do a little dance, sing a song, recite pi, anything other than being painfully silent.

"It would be just like the show in Osaka that one time! Keigo was so mad at me for going off and not telling him where, but we had so much fun, didn't we? Like when the map got all wrecked in the rain afterwards and we had to stay in a hotel and we were right next door to a group of people who'd come all the way from Canada to see him and we all ended up talking? And the blonde lady was his biggest fan and knew everything about him and had all his music and his merchandise and was one of the leaders of the international fanclub? That was so sugoi! I liked her!"  
_Nobody knows more about him than I do...nobody...  
_"I'll think about it, okay? He might not even have a show here at all...or I might have wo-"  
"No saying that word."

* * *

_How would he feel, _Eiji thought to himself after Jiroh left, _if he knew you had all his CDs? _He wasn't like the obsessed fans, but he did have Oishi's music and a light stick to wave at concerts. He didn't listen to it all that much, but enough to know the songs when they came up on the radio, and to have a favourite. _I really took his voice for granted back in school, I never thought I'd have to pay to listen to him sing..._

His cell phone vibrated. _Probably just Jiroh._

But Jiroh would always send another text if his first one wasn't answered, and after five minutes the cell phone was still sitting as quietly as its landline counterpart. Eiji became curious. _Taki, perhaps? He's patient. It can't be Ootori because he doesn't text much... _Giving in to curiosity, he picked up the phone.

His heart skipped a beat.

_**I can't fit everything into 160 characters...remember the tree? Can you be there by six? Please reply. O**_


	3. Long Overdue

5:30PM

The display on Eiji's watch taunted him, seconds taking hours to go by. He still had another thirty minutes before he actually needed to be here, but if he hadn't left the house then, he would have paced circles around the kitchen until he got dizzy and fainted.

And _that_ would make him miss his very important appointment.

A cold wind blew, but the redhead didn't even feel it. He couldn't hear the gentle swishing of the trees around him, or the soft quacks of the ducks in the distance. All that met his ears was the quiet ticking and tocking of his watch, slower and slower and _slower_.

"Eiji…"  
He looked up then, to be faced with the hooded man from earlier that day. This time, though, he didn't back away.

"Oishi."  
"Eiji…c-can I still call you that? And can I sit here?"  
"It's not my tree, you know." Eiji couldn't hide a smile at that moment, scooting over a little to allow his old best friend to sit down beside him. The sunglasses were removed, the hood taken down, and there sat Oishi Syuichirou. Taller, perhaps, with a little more tone than before, looking slightly more worn than he used to, as well, but otherwise, he definitely hadn't changed in the slightest. "Eiji is still fine. You wanted to speak to me?"  
"It's been three years…of course I want to speak to you, Eiji; I want to know how you're doing. So you work with cats now? And children?" 

Eiji took a breath, and began to recount everything that Oishi had missed since the end of high school. Fuji and Tezuka applying to the same university in Germany, Taka's wedding and beautiful wife and cute children, Momo's move to Spain, Kaidoh's sudden inheritance, Inui deciding to apply for one of the best universities _on the planet_, and Echizen's decision to quit school entirely and focus on tennis. The conversation lingered on tennis, then. On Kaidoh leading the Seigaku high schoolers to victory in his final year, on Hyoutei actually being pretty nice guys, and Rikkai too, and all the other schools and and and-

"Hey, Eiji…" uh oh, had he rambled for too long without letting Oishi talk? Spending so much time with Jiroh made Eiji really appreciate whenever he got the chance to speak.

"Oh, nya, am I being boring?"  
"No, no, it's all really interesting, but…" Oishi smiled gently, "I asked how _you_ were doing."

Did Oishi seriously want to know any of that? He couldn't. Eiji just ended up babysitting his neighbour's cat, then someone else's cat, then a few more cats, and before he knew it, his house was full of cats and he had a business going. He couldn't even remember how he got into helping out at the school, but he enjoyed it. That was basically it.

"…and that's basically it, really. Sorry my life is so boring, nya, it's nothing compared to yours. Wasn't there an article in the paper about what you ate for breakfast one morning? That's how much everyone wants to know about you!"

Oishi's eyes were sparkling with absolute fascination, which puzzled Eiji. "There was, yeah. So what do you have for breakfast most days?"  
"O-"

"I'm really interested!" the shy smile again, tugging at Eiji's heartstrings. It really was almost just like before. Was that how Oishi wanted it to be, after such a long time? "You've been able to read about my life all over, but I haven't been able to get a thing on you for years and years, do you know how worried I've been? Everything's changed so much since I left…"  
"I haven't"  
Oishi chuckled then. "Yes you have. You're practically another person. Now, about breakfast every morning. Is it something sweet?"  
"Yep."  
"Pancakes?"  
"Nyaaa, guess what's on them."  
"Hmm…" Oishi fiddled with his fringe. "Ice cream. Chocolate ice cream."  
"Bzzzzzz! Wrong! Cream and chocolate sauce and strawberries!" He giggled, clapping his hands and celebrating his minor victory. Eiji's companion looked thoughtful.  
"It's weird, thinking you live alone now. You do everything for yourself? Cooking and all?"  
"Oh yes, Marui taught me a lot. Do you remember Marui? We're good friends now!"

_Strange to think, really. _Eiji smiled to himself as the conversation went on. _I have so many different friends now. Jiroh and Ootori and Taki are like my best friends now that Fuji is in Germany and I can't see him anymore. I see a lot more of little Taichi these days, and Marui comes over to help me out with cooking sometimes…and there's the occasional chat with Gakuto at the gym…_

"So you have a lot of friends?"  
"Oh yes, yes." Eiji blushed, pulled out of his thoughts. "My best friends are probably Jiroh, Ootori and Taki, though. We went to one of your shows in Osaka together…"

Oishi's eyes widened. "Really? Was it good? When was it?"  
"A few months ago…it was really amazing, Oishi! And kinda surreal, too. You were always popular with girls in school but man, entire stadiums of screaming women? Crazy. Never saw that coming, nya." Oishi just went quiet, apparently in thought.

"About shows, I have one tomorrow, so I probably need to go rehearse now. You busy tomorrow night?" Eiji shook his head, chest tightening hopefully. "Perfect. I want you to have these."

A small envelope was pressed into Eiji's hand, and the redhead held it to his chest protectively, as though he had just been handed a precious treasure. "Thank you…"  
Again, the shy smile. Was Oishi learning how to hide his emotions? He was doing a good job of it, for sure.

"I have to go now…but uh, first, do you have a pen?" Eiji handed him one, and he wrote a few things on the envelope. "There we go…now let's never lose contact again, okay?"  
"Okay~ nya!"

An awkward embrace followed. A strange sort of one armed hug as Oishi put up his hood and put on his sunglasses, even though it was dark. Whispered goodbyes, a pat on the cheek.

Finally, silence once more, save for the tick-tocking of Eiji's watch.


End file.
